Krishna (Kannada actor)

Krishna
Born	Sunil Kumar N. (1985-06-12) 12 June 1985 (age 39) [1] Mysuru, Karnataka, India
Other names	Darling Krishna
Occupations	Actor director producer writer
Years active	2009–present
Spouse	Milana Nagaraj ​ (m. 2021)​
Children	1

Nagappa Sunil Kumar (born 12 June 1985), known professionally as Darling Krishna, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Kannada films. He is a recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Awards South and a South Indian International Movie Award. ^{[2] [3]}

Krishna made his film debut with Jackie (2010). For his performance in the 2013 film Madarangi , he received SIIMA Award for Best Male Debut – Kannada nomination. ^[2] Post his debut, Krishna starred in the Kannada soap-opera Krishna Rukmini. Krishna's career marked a turning point with his directorial debut Love Mocktail (2020) and its sequel Love Mocktail 2 (2022). ^[4] He won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor – Kannada and SIIMA Award for Best Film – Kannada, for the former. Further success came with Lucky Man (2022) and Kousalya Supraja Rama (2023).

Krishna is married to his co-actor Milana Nagaraj with whom he has a daughter. ^[5]

Early life

Darling Krishna was born as Sunil Kumar N. on 12 June 1985 in Mysore, Karnataka. ^{[6] [1]} His father Nagappa, is a retired police officer. He completed his MBA from Bangalore. ^[7]

Career

Debut and early work (2010–2019)

Darling Krishna started his career as an assistant director for Duniya Soori in Jackie in 2010. He also played a CID officer in the film. ^[8] He then did a special role in Hudugaru in 2011. ^[9] Darling Krishna then portrayed the titular role in the Kannada soap-opera "Krishna Rukmini". ^[10]

Darling Krishna's first lead role came in 2013, with Madarangi opposite Sushma Raj. It was a box office success. ^[11] B.S. Srivani of Deccan Herald noted, "Krishna manages to hold his own but a smug smile or a fixed grimace won’t carry the day for long." ^[12]

He had two releases in 2015. He first appeared in Rudra Tandava . The New Indian Express stated, "Krishna is placed well in his role." ^[13] He next portrayed the titular role opposite Vaishali Deepak in Charlie . ^[14] Krishna had two releases in 2016 too. He first appeared in Doddmane Hudga , a commercial success. ^[15] Times of India 's Sunayana Suresh mentioned, "Darling Krishna has a role that is pivotal to the film's plot and delivers." ^[16] He next portrayed John in John Jani Janardhan . ^[17]

In 2017, he portrayed a bar accountant opposite Teju in Mumbai . Times of India said, "Darling Krishna has all the qualities of a good commercial hero, but the film fails him despite him putting his all." ^[18] He next portrayed a MLA aspirant in Jaali Baaru Mattu Poli Hudugaru opposite Mansi Vasudeva, which had a delayed release later that year. ^[19] In 2018, he portrayed Raam opposite Shravya Rao in Huccha 2. ^[20] Times of India mentioned, "Darling Krishna is earnest as Raam and has done a good job." ^[21]

Directorial debut and success (2020–2022)

Krishna ventured into direction and production in 2020 with Love Mocktail , which proved as a major turning point in his career. He portrayed a software engineer opposite Milana Nagaraj, who co-produced the film. ^[22] It became a critical and commercial success. Aravind Shwetha of The News Minute noted, "Darling Krishna has managed both acting and direction with responsibility. His performance is up to the mark, especially as a doting husband." ^[23] The New Indian Express stated, "Krishna's role as Adi, who comes in different shades, is done with perfection." ^[24]

In 2021, he appeared in a special song in Kotigobba 3 . ^[25] He portrayed a steward in [e-mail] opposite Bhavana. ^[26] Vivek M V of Deccan Herald stated, "Darling Krishna's easy-style acting is likebale." ^[27]

Krishna had four releases in 2022. He first reprised his role in Love Mocktail 2 opposite Milana Nagaraj. It became a box office success. ^[28] Deccan Herald stated, "Krishna sticks to the strengths of the much-loved 2020 romantic drama and does his part well." ^[29] Times of India stated that Krishna is "endearing and entertaining". ^[30] He next appeared opposite Meenakshi Dixit in the much delayed film Local Train. ^[31] Krishna appeared opposite Sangeetha Sringeri and Roshni Prakash in Lucky Man . ^[32] Cinema Express mentioned, "Krishna delivers a complete performance. He fits perfectly into all phases of the character." ^[33] In his last film of the year, he portrayed a IT engineer opposite Nishvika Naidu and Megha Shetty. ^[34] News18 wrote, "Darling Krishna’s performance will keep you glued to your seats." ^[35]

Career progression (2023–present)

In 2023, Krishna first appeared opposite Nimika Ratnakar in Mr. Bachelor. Cinema Express stated, "Krishna brings in all-around entertainment and gets to showcase a bit of his dancing skills." ^[36] He then portrayed a software engineer opposite Milana Nagaraj in Love Birds. ^[37] The New Indian Express found his performance to be "natural and poignant". While Times of India wrote, "Krishna and Milana impress with their performance as a couple that is very much in love, but are unable to see through their differences." ^{[38] [39]} Krishna later portrayed a chauvinist in Kousalya Supraja Rama opposite Milana Nagaraj and Brinda Acharya. The film became a critical and commercial success. ^{[40] [41]} A. Sharadhaa of The New Indian Express noted, "Krishna’s portrayal of his character in two shades mirrors the reality of many households in society and his performance adds depth to the movie." ^[42] In his last release of the year, Krishna played a wedding planner in love in, Sugar Factory opposite Sonal Monteiro. ^[43] Y Maheswara Reddy of Bangalore Mirror stated, "Krishna, excels as a lover boy. He remains convincing as a casual as well as a true lover." ^[44]

Krishna will next appear in Love Me Or Hate Me opposite Rachita Ram. ^[45]

Personal life

Sunil Kumar changed his name to Krishna, after the success of his first Kannada serial, Krishna Rukmini (2011). ^[10]

Krishna met actress Milana Nagaraj on the sets of the film Nam Duniya Nam Style . They eventually started dating in 2015. ^[46] Krishna married Milana on 14 February 2021, in a private traditional ceremony on the outskirts of Bengaluru. ^{[47] [48]} On 5 September 2024, Milana gave birth to their daughter "Pari". ^{[49] [50]}

Other work and media image

Krishna is one of the most promising actor in the Kannada cinema. ^[5] His first film as the lead, Madarangi , earned him the title "Darling Krishna". ^[2] In 2020, Krishna was placed 12th in Bangalore Times' 30 Most Desirable Men list. ^[51]

Darling Krishna started his own production house "Krishna Talkies" in 2020. He has co-produced Love Mocktail (2020) and Love Mocktail 2 (2022) under the same. ^[52] He won SIIMA Award for Best Film – Kannada for the former. He next produced Kousalya Supraja Rama (2023), a commercial success. ^[53]

Filmography

Films

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Jackie	CID Officer	Uncredited
2011	Dandam Dashagunam	Police officer	credited as Sunil
	Hudugaru	Prabhu's friend	Uncredited
2013	Madarangi	Manu
	Nam Duniya Nam Style	Yogi
2015	Rudra Tandava	Kumar
	Charlie	Cheluvanarayana Swamy
2016	Doddmane Hudga	Krishna
	John Jani Janardhan	John
2017	Mumbai	Jakathi
	Jaali Baaru Mattu Poli Hudugaru	Santhosh Kumar
2018	Huccha 2	Raam
2020	Love Mocktail	Aditya "Adi"
2021	Kotigobba 3	Himself	Special appearance in song "Akashane Adarisuva"
	[e-mail]	Sathya		[54] [55]
2022	Love Mocktail 2	Aditya "Adi"
	Local Train	Santhosh		[56]
	Lucky Man	Arjun Nagappa		[57] [58]
	Dilpasand	Santosh		[59]
2023	Mr. Bachelor	Karthik		[60] [61]
	Love Birds	Deepak
	Kousalya Supraja Rama	Ram Siddegowda		[62]
	Sugar Factory	Arya
2024	Love Me Or Hate Me†	TBA	Filming	[63]
TBA	Father†	TBA	Filming	[64]

Other crew positions

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2010	Jackie	Assistant director	[65]
2011	Dandam Dashagunam
	Hudugaru
2020	Love Mocktail	Director, Writer and Producer
2022	Love Mocktail 2		[66]
2023	Kousalya Supraja Rama	Producer	[67]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2011–2012	Krishna Rukmini	Krishna	[10]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result	Ref.
2014	South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Male Debut – Kannada	Madarangi	Nominated	[68]
2021	Chandanavana Film Critics Academy Awards	Best Film	Love Mocktail	Nominated	[69]
		Best Director		Nominated
		Best Actor		Nominated
		Best Screenplay		Nominated
		Best Dialogue Writer		Nominated
	South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Film – Kannada		Won	[70]
		Best Director – Kannada		Nominated
		Best Actor – Kannada		Nominated
2022	Filmfare Awards South	Best Director – Kannada		Nominated	[71]
		Best Actor – Kannada		Nominated
		Best Actor Critics – Kannada		Won
2023	South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Film – Kannada	Love Mocktail 2	Nominated	[72]
		Best Director – Kannada		Nominated
	Chandanavana Film Critics Academy Awards	Best Screenplay		Won	[73]
2024	IIFA Utsavam	Best Actor – Kannada	Kousalya Supraja Rama	Pending	[74]

See also

• List of Indian film actors

References

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2. "Kannada stars take on their character names". Times of India. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
3. "Krishna new hero arrives!". Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
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32. "Luckyman teaser: Late Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar plays God in romantic drama". The Indian Express. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
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45. "Darling Krishna and Rachita Ram team up for the first time, for a romantic caper". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
46. "Real life couple Krishna and Milana open up on working together for 'Love Mocktail'". The News Minute. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
47. Padmashree Bhat. "ವೈವಾಹಿಕ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾಲಿಟ್ಟ ನಟ ಡಾರ್ಲಿಂಗ್ ಕೃಷ್ಣ, ಮಿಲನಾ ನಾಗರಾಜ್!". Vijay Karnataka. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
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73. "CFC Academy Awards 2023 : ಚಂದನವನ ಫಿಲ್ಮ್ ಕ್ರಿಟಿಕ್ಸ್ ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ.. ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ನಟ ರಿಷಬ್, ನಟಿ ಶರ್ಮಿಳಾ". Zee News Kannada. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
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External links

• Krishna at IMDb
• Krishna on Instagram